A point of interest: the word MEDicine is
derived from the word MEAD. In other words, it'll
cure what ales you. Never mind what ales will do.
Apparently, the word metheglin is similar to
the Welsh form of the word medicine.

To Boil or not to Boil? That is the question...

My brewing partner and I boiled the must (unfermented
honey and water) for our first 20 or so batches of mead with
no serious problems. Conventional wisdom in the mead making
circles suggests that boiling honey may cause some of the
volatile organic compounds to escape, removing some of the
interesting honey aromas.
We have changed our practices so that we raise the must to a
temperature just below boiling and keep it there
for 30 minutes to an hour, this pasteurizes the mixture and
gives the brewing yeast a head start over any airborn wild yeast.

On a similar note, mead folklore suggests that you
skim the scum that riseth to the top of the must during the
pasteurization stage. We have also adopted that traditional technique.

Aging of Mead

Once a mead has been cooked and fermented, the aging process
begins. The flavor goes through fairly significant changes over the
course of the first two years, then typically stabilizes for a number
of years and eventually starts to lose character.
Generally, mead tends to taste a bit like cough syrup until it is about
a year old, blueberry melomel can be an exception. It is normal practice
to start sampling small bottles of a mead batch after six months of aging,
then consume the bulk of the batch between the first and second year.

Around one year old, the mead will lose some of the bitter flavors and
start to smooth out. The mead continues to improve for the next several
years and eventually starts to go downhill. If you have the patience,
meads that are 2 to 5 years old are optimal.
Your author has managed to save a number of meads for up to 15 years
in a dark and cool basement, they were still quite drinkable but had
lost some of their flavor.

Sweet or Dry?

As an old friend said: "There's no accounting for personal taste".
Many of the commercially available meads are of the sweet style,
a few of them are cloyingly sweet. Commercial meads such as
Chaucer's and Bunratty fall into the latter category.
Dry, or lightly-sweet meads are very different animals, indeed.
Dry meads tend to take more time to age but are usually worth the wait.
Fortunately, some of the newer commercial brands have caught on to the
dry mead styles. Brew what tastes good to you.

Mead as an Acquired Taste

Over the years, your author has served what he considers quality mead to
many first-time mead drinkers. There seem to be two types of people:
those who love mead, and those who sample it, say "interesting" then put
the glass down and walk away. My advice is to pour small samples for
guests and not worry about people's varying preferences.
Along those lines, if one drinks mead after consuming other strong-flavored
beverages such as red wine, it may take a few sips to clear the palette
and get the true flavor of the mead.

Mead Hangovers

See "Sweet or Dry" above.
This section is for those who really like the taste of mead.
Anyone who has ever attended a Meading, a mead brewer's tasting
party, knows how wicked a mead hangover can be. One friend reported a
two-day hangover as a result of drinking a fair amount of the tasty liquid.
There is some speculation that the natural preservative ingredients in
honey may have something to do with this effect. The susceptibility to
mead hangovers varies considerably from person to person. Consumption of
water between glasses of mead is recommended.

Some form of moderation is generally a good policy when drinking mead,
as with any alcoholic beverage, your mileage
may vary. You control the vertical, you control the horizontal,
don't drink and drive, tuck your shirt in, etc...

Books

I highly recommend the book "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by
Charlie Papazian.
The book provides a great introduction to the
process of making homebrew beer, it also has a chapter devoted to
making mead. Charlie's book is available at numerous homebrew supply stores.

Be sure to look at the Mead-Lover's FAQ (above),
it refers to a number of books about mead.